So, to reiterate: We can't use the Books to weaken the old man, and we can't use the Books to strengthen ourselves.
"In that case, just what the hell CAN we do?" I groaned.
"Would it be plausible to turn back the clock for him to before he became a World Wonder?" Issei suggested.
Expectantly, all of us turned to gauge the Gods' reactions. Though surprised he thought of such a unique idea, their faces seemed to scrunch up in doubt after a bit of mulling over.
"Yeaaaahh, no." Aru shook her head, "Screwing around with the past could affect the present in unforeseen ways. Worst case scenario, a butterfly ripple effect might cause one or all of you to have never been born in the first place."
"Yikes." Grim shivered, "Guess we should put that one away for now, then."
"And you guys are sure we can't use the Books to power ourselves up?" Anna asked them.
"Why are you so adamant about powering up?" Cecily turned to her.
"It's a personal wish."
Geez, they say shoot for the Moon, but isn't she taking it way too literally? Whether it be marrying a prince to becoming a superhero, Anna's always had lofty goals ever since we first met. Isn't owning the largest global restaurant chain enough for you, woman?
"No one is using the Books, dammit!" Auros roared, shutting everyone up in the process, "Oh my Me, you find a new fun toy to screw around with and you suddenly wanna abuse it like it's nothing! The Books are what keep this entire Universe in check, and yet you wanna use it for something as simple as killing Olyahim!?"
"Simple?" Grim tilted his head.
"I used it to make ice cream..." Nelly muttered bashfully.
With glares of genuine disbelief, the two Gods couldn't believe what they had just heard. Thankfully, checking her mind to make sure whatever she had used the Books for didn't ruin anything in the process proved negative, meaning they didn't have to mark her down as an enemy.
"Sigh, I guess you're lucky Olya taught you how to properly use it." Aru gently facepalmed, "Had you asked for anything world altering, we'd have to dispose of you right here and now."
"H-Hey now, you're just joking, right?" Grim stood up.
"Yeah, what the hell do you mean she didn't change anything?" Shaid finally piped up, "Reviving people left and right surely changes things significantly, doesn't it? At least more than the bit of fun we did back at the Lair."
"You..." Auros growled, however Aru was there to calmly explain everything.
"Trust me, her reviving you two will change nothing." Aru alluded to... something, "On the other hand, it was Olyahim who quite literally wiped out the entire Raaman race with just a couple of paragraphs."
"Whoa, he did?" Issei jumped in surprise.
I get the feeling whatever Aru's about to cook is gonna be way worse than whatever Auros was gonna say. Shaid really has balls to confront the Gods, given their relationship.
"He saved your entire group in that damned Lair where you were supposed to die from hunger and hypothermia." She continued.
"Ah-" Shaid backed away slowly, but she kept following him.
"Thanks to his little succubus summoning antics, this entire Archipelago is now home to thousands of little Schnells, some of whom even thought to go out into the world and mix in with the rest of the populace."
"Erm..."
"And let's not mention the entire goddamned World Wonders Wish System you implemented without even asking anyone for permission!" She finally snapped, "Do you know how much trouble and anxiety you've caused us with such a strong power being so easily accessible by anyone with even a shred of adventure in them!?"
"Right, right, so true." Auros nodded meekly, "Every single day from then on we had to carefully check if anyone with bad intentions was about to get their wish. Goddamn, hey Allucius, when's Chris getting appointed?"
"Not for another 349 years." She answered offhandedly, "Dude still hasn't even been born yet, chill."
"Ooough, I can't wait that long!" He stomped angrily on the ground.
"Okay, okay! That's enough!" Grim finally calmed everyone down, "Shaid's group was guilty, Nelly is not, end of story!"
"...Is, not was." The Gods merely crossed their arms and pouted.
So from my understanding, Shaid's not getting excused anytime soon. Hopefully this'll give him an incentive to really pull through during this fight and earn back his good name, 'cause I really wouldn't like it if the Gods just up and killed him after all this is over.
"Wait, let's go back to the original topic." Cecily annoyedly pointed out a glaring issue, "If you guys are so against us using the Books, then what the hell do we do? The guy's immortal, and we're all super tired, fatigued or injured."
"You still don't get it, do you?" They smirked impishly.
"Get what, exactly?" Issei too was interested to hear the answer.
"You guys already did your parts perfectly." Their smirks turned into smiles, "Rejoice! For now it's time for your long awaited rest! We allowed you time for the kids to properly get rescued, Issei reversed that Olyahim's Hellish revival and you all took away his one and only trump card—The Books!"
"Wait, so you're saying...?" I felt their contagious smiles infect me as well.
"Yep, once again... Rejoice!" Auros raised his arms out high up into the sky, "For now you all get your long awaited rest while we deal with that bastard once and for all!"
"What, did you seriously think we came all the way here just to watch you from the sidelines?" Aru teased, "Oh, please! Only a fool would skip out on the chance to go all out on an indestructible punching bag!"
So we... don't have to fight? Anna, did you hear that? None of us have to worry about each others' safety anymore! We...! We did our parts, they said—and we did them perfectly! Haha, victory!!!
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"Victory!!!" Issei shouted with all his might.
"Hey now, don't go counting your chickens before they hatch." Cecily warned him.
"A-Ahem, yeah man, be a bit more patient, will ya'?" I tried to act all responsible too.
"You guys say you're fine with us doing nothing, but we sure aren't." Grim looked at the Gods, "There's gotta be something we can do, like what if he has another ace up his sleeve?"
"If he has some kind of trick that even the Gods can't handle though, then what good could we do?" Anna raised a point.
To this, everyone but the Gods shut up awkwardly. No one wanted to admit it, but she's completely right. We as mere humans can't do anything to help them...
"Just sit tight and wait for us to come back." Aru climbed back on Auros' shoulder and waved.
"You're tasked with making sure that guy doesn't pull anything." Auros pointed to Shaid.
"I won't." He annoyedly plopped back down on his rock.
Just like that, they disappeared like the wind. No one knew what to do, quite literally sitting here and doing nothing just felt way too wrong. The battle was going on just across the island, and it's not like it has nothing to do with us. Meil and Lem are there fighting, so why can't we?
"Why can't... we?" I realized, springing up to my feet in a panic.
"Ed, what's wrong?" Anna looked at me confused.
"I'm taking these." I hastily confiscated the Books from Cecily's and Nelly's hands.
"Hey, Ed!?" They protested, "What're you planning? Give them back and sit down!"
"Sorry, I gotta go!" I shouted, running away full speed to try and make it in time.
I expected them to run after me, but surprisingly nothing of the sort happened. Looks like they trust the Gods to have dealt with Olya long before I even arrived there. Still, though that part may or may not be true, a very bad issue remains.
"Meil and Lem are there fighting, so why can't we... The answer is obvious, isn't it?" I muttered to myself as I rushed through the jungle terrain.
The Gods are planning on going all out against Olya, so they had us stand back so as to not get caught in the crossfire. But what about those two? Meil and Lem, they must've already lost to Olya while we were here talking! It might just be my paranoid nature, but I think there's a high possibility the Gods might try to cover their deaths up as "something that couldn't be helped" and leave us without them. Well, I won't let them die, even if it might make me an enemy of the Gods!
"Ah, finally made it." An old, raspy voice could be heard beckoning the two Gods standing before him, "Schnell held you up way longer than I expected, could it be that you're not as strong as that damned Sun God?"
"It's them!" I yelped in a whisper, ducking behind the bushes so as to not get spotted, "Wait, those two laying down on the ground next to him couldn't be...!?"
It is! Just as I thought, Lem and Meil are dead! He killed them! N-No, calm down Ed, you're panicking too much. Right, they might just have been knocked out, you never know. Ugh, I wish I could see them up close, this uncertainty is killing me!
"Elder, who are they?" Two girls cowering behind Olya asked.
"Leave now, lest you lose your lives on this very soil." Aru warned them.
"W-We'll protect our elder until the bitter end, r-right Sheila?!" The girl holding two blades whimpered.
"Y-Yeah." Her friend nodded nervously, "Do your worst, you freaks."
"Sadly, I don't think these girls got anything on you two." Olya unapologetically pushed through them, "But you and I both know that they wouldn't survive even if they started running now."
"...."
Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Aru, don't tell me he's right!? Dammit, some Gods they are, I was right to not trust them! They're just planning to wipe out this entire place with everyone in it! That's it, I can't take this anymore...!
"Huh?" I read through the Books' contents, "The protagonist married Anna Gray, the protagonist will have a boy in June...?"
Wait, so am I the protagonist? The Gods did say there was a specific syntax you had to follow in order to get it to work, so is that it? One Book tells the past, the other the future. I guess that makes sense. In that case, if I wanted to write a wish in, I'd probably write it as...
"The protagonist will look up at Meil Deram and Lemmy, and when he does, they'll be at their strongest and most healthy."
For safe measure, I wrote the prompt in the past tense for the other Book as well. I closed the Books, took a deep breath, and looked up.
"What?" I looked around, "They're.. gone! Where are they!?"
Finally, I looked up to see where they went. Floating up in the sky, more graceful than the Sun, Meil carried a confused Lem in his arms. His White hair glew so much it was practically blinding, his physique became more muscular, and his short hair grew to somehow entwine itself into an absurdly long braid. The Gods and Olya were stunned beyond belief, and they could do nothing more than stand below him, stunned and without words.
"Eh? Meil?" Lem tried looking at him, but quickly had to look away from the sheer brightness his body emanated.
"I see, so that is the case." Meil looked at the bush I was hiding at head on, blinked in front of me just to hand over Lem, and blitzed back to his previous position, "Olyahim, that is 2-0 for you. For one, I would like to congratulate you, and two—I have to apologize, but I will now be settling the score."
What the hell is this version of Meil...!? Wait, I wrote the wish in correctly, didn't I? Hold on, this IS because of the wish, right!?